Sewickley Herald

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Vol. 81 No. 18
The Sewickley
Herald
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Wednesday, May 2, 1984
GOOD START. Quaker Valley’s Bob Patterson gets out of the starting blocks in a hurry in ,the first leg of the 400 meter relay. The Quakers were competing in the first round of the WPIAL track and field playoffs at Beaver against Beaver and Quigley last Wednesday. To find out all the results, see Page 21.
(Photo by Tim Kuzma)
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16 Gateway Publications SUBURBAN PITTSBURGH'S LARGEST CIRCULATION
30 Cents
Inside
Local lass develops rare skin disease
Sewickley group expresses thanks
after street cleanup
Academy students stroll on the Great White Way
1983's outstanding leaders feted at special dinner
National Merit Scholarship for local student
See special fashion insert in today's Herald.

Explosion:
As golfers took advantage of a warm, spring afternoon and the Sewickley Heights Zoning Hearing Board prepared to convene in the borough hall, located on the Allegheny Country Club grounds, a powerful explosion blasted apart a portion of a landmark Sewickley Heights residence nearby: “Treetops.”
Kay Weiss of Edgeworth was playing the 17th hole of the club’s golf course at about 3:51 p.m. on April 26 when she heard a “big noise.”
She said she knew right away it was not an airplane or firecracker. In fact, she thought the country club building itself might have had an explosion.
Over in the borough hall, Assistant Borough Manager Bill Rohe felt his office rattled by the force of the blast, and knew something was amiss.
According to Sewickley Heights Police Chief Alan Farrier, the. garage doors doors at the mansion were blown 300 feet.	,	„
No one was at home. Owner Nicholas Krysalka was in Europe at the time, according to sources. Members of his family who live in the area were summoned to the residence by police.
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Blast rocks
As the Herald went to press, Chief Farrier reported police and the county fire marshal still have not had a chance to launch an investigation, because rubble and a dangerously damaged roof still hinder attempts. Farrier was unable to speculate on the fate of a Rolls Royce, Bentley and MG housed in the three-car garage. Servants quarters and a boiler room were also located in the damaged wing of “Treetops.”
Farrier said when the rubble and debris are cleared by an insurance-company crew, the investigation will begin. The clearing job might be started within the next day or two, he explained.
Asked if the explosion could have been caused by natural gas or other accidental means, the police chief responded that anything is possible.
Asked if the explosion might have been a criminal act, he declined comment.
Owner Nicholas Krysalka, whose business is said to be real estate, bought “Treetops” in February, 1933 from the estate of George Hann, who died in 1979.
Krysalka, who flew back to the area over the weekend after learning of the explosion, lists his
"Treetops"
primary residence as St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands.
Hann, who made a fortune in the air transportion industry, built the Norman-French residence in 1929.
The turreted Sewickley Heights landmark is defined in crescent configuration by walls two-feet thick.
A great hall with a 25-foot-high cathedral ceiling supported by beams brought from a Pennsylvania barn is the mansion’s piece de resistance.
“Treetops” was the setting for art-connoisseur Hann’s famed collection of Russian icons and medieval, Renaissance and other works of art.
The authenticity of the icon collection was questioned in April’s edition of Art and Antiques Magazine by Michael Glenny.
The estate on which “Treetops” sits, on a private drive off Backbone Road, contains approximately 40 acres of land, Besides the mansion, a stone and concrete swimming pool, a greenhouse and two frame dwelling are also located on the estate.